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fun-raising

no, i am not dead, nor have i been lying incapacitated in a ditch somewhere. i've mostly been preparing for our imminent, epic move, which is actually not so terribly epic, because we found a place quite close to where we are now. in addition, i've been the beneficiary of an inordinately large amount of paying work, which does, sadly, take precedence over blogging, even though you know i'd always rather be with you.

indeed, with moving expenses and medical expenses looming on the horizon, more than can be accounted for even with the deepest cuts in the lipstick budget, dom and i recently did something that we've not done before: we asked for help. last week, we launched a fundraising campaign on go fund me. it can be difficult to admit that you need a helping hand, but what's been overwhelming for both of us is how quick to respond so many people we know have been once we asked. it's also shocking to see how quickly things added up.

most of all, though, the experience has been humbling. immediate uses of the funds raised aside, i feel like this sort of support demands a response from me on an ongoing basis: like i should do something to show that i was a good investment. i know damn well that the people who supported us don't think of it that way [nor have i ever thought of any donation i've made to help anyone else in that way], but i still feel it.

this is coupled with the fact that the move has taken on a significance beyond a simple shift in location for both dom and me: we'll be in a place that allows him more freedom, and that has a number of features that will make both of our lives a lot easier, but it's also an opportunity to start with a fresh slate, after what seems like an interminable run of very unpleasant things. [i won't drone on about those, but you can read about some of them here.] in the end, a lot of people have stepped up to pull us over the finish line, and [imminently] into the future. that's a big deal for both of us.

i feel the need to make good on the promise of a clean start, and i feel it not as a burden, but as incentive. it's exhilarating. in the end, what i've received, what we've received, isn't just the financial support we needed, but the emotional support.

if you're one of the people who made a donation to the campaign, i want you to know that you did something that was important for the two of us, something that's improved our mood and our outlook on the future. and i want to thank you, because that's an incredible thing to feel.

we've not been actively soliciting donations in a few days [since we met our goal], however, the campaign site is still open, and if you can afford to give something, or would just like to share it as an example of a success story, you can do so here:

the world can be a pretty rough place, even for comfy white people in the first world, let alone everyone else. but there's a lot of good in it.

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